NOTES ON THE GENUS EUPITHECIA. 171 



which is still used in Britain. Sherborn's ' Index Animalium ' 

 gives the date of insigniata as 1790, according to the title-page of 

 vol. ii., but Staudinger is more likely right in giving 1792. 

 Vol. i. of the 'Beitrage,' in four parts, was published in 1786, 87, 

 88, 89, and it is unlikely that vol. ii., also in four parts, was 

 completed in a single year, although its preface (dated 24th 

 November, 1790) expresses a hope that this may be possible. 



Eupithecia venosata, Fb. — I have already pointed out (Entom. 

 xxxvii. 152) that the correct varietal names of the Shetland and 

 Orkney forms are respectively var. fumosce, Gregs. (= nubilata, 

 Bhtsch.), and var. ochracce, Gregs. (= orcadensis, Prout), and I 

 have nothing further to add on these. I shall be grateful if any 

 reader of these notes can furnish me with the original reference 

 for var. fumosts, as the earliest which I have obtained ('Young 

 Naturalist,' viii. Ill) does not give the impression of an original 

 description, but at the same time I have sought in vain for an 

 older one in the pages of the 'Young Naturalist.' Gregson also 

 gave the name of var. bandance ('Young Naturalist,' viii. Ill) to 

 the more variegated banded Shetland forms, with the white 

 striae well marked, and the ground colour darkened between 

 them. The " ?var. schiefereri, Bhtsch.," of Staudinger's ' Cata- 

 log,' is, according to Bohatsch and Dietze, a valid species ; cceru- 

 leata, Favre (Fn. Valais, p. 305), is a synonym (vide Mitt. 

 Schweiz. Ent. Ges. x. 361). 



Eupithecia distinctaria, H.-S. — British entomologists have 

 continued erroneously to call this species by its younger name of 

 constrictata, Gn. The latter name first appears in a note by 

 Doubleday in ' The Zoologist' for 1856, pp. 5140, 5141, but as 

 no description was given it must be reckoned a nomen nudum 

 until Guenee's work appeared in January to February, 1858 (not 

 in 1857, as is invariably quoted from the title-pages). 



Eupithecia expallidata, Dbld., and E. assimilata, Dbld. — 

 These are usually attributed to Guenee (1858), but both were 

 named and adequately described by Doubleday in 1856 (vide 

 Zool. xiv. pp. 5140 and 5142). 



Eupithecia goussensiata, Mab., = minutata, Dbld., Gn., nee 

 Hb. — The reference to Guenee in Staudinger's ' Catalog ' should 

 be preceded by "Dbld., Zool. 1856, p. 5140," but the name 

 minutata, Schiff., properly belongs to absinthiata, and its later 

 reference to the heath-feeding species is an error. If the name 

 callunce, Speyer (1867), is really referable to the same form, this 

 is older than goossemiata, Mab. (1869), but there is still some 

 doubt (vide Ent. Bee. xiii. 324). 



Eupithecia denotata, Hb. — It is now perfectly well known that 

 this name, unfortunately, supersedes the suitable one of campanu- 

 lata, H.-S. There is some ground, however, for believing that it 

 is not quite so absolutely confined to Campanula as we have been 

 inclined to suppose. I shall return to this presently. 



Q2 



